Google Cancels Mod-Phone Plan

SAN FRANCISCO – Google has cancelled a pilot scheme in Puerto Rico that could have seen major changes to the way smartphones are designed, built and tested.Its Project Ara was tasked with designing a
“modular” smartphone with components that could be replaced and
upgraded through a hardware marketplace, similar to an app store.

Google planned to begin selling the device in a pilot test in Puerto Rico this
year but a spokeswoman yesterday said it would no longer do so.

One person previously involved in Project Ara said the team had experienced
difficulty taking the project from prototype to higher-volume production.